BTS’ youngest member, 26-year-old artist Jung Kook released his first ever solo album titled Golden on November 3, and it’s done nothing but shine.
The word maknae means youngest member of a group. However, Jung Kook was given the name “Golden Maknae” by the leader of the group BTS due to his success years ago, which still holds up today. With ten songs total, four features, and three pre-released singles, the Golden album is immersed with amazing production by both up-coming and well-known artists and lyricists.
It all started on June 29, when the Army (the BTS fanbase) was shook after Big Hit Entertainment announced that Jung Kook would be releasing a solo single. Featuring 24-year-old rapper Latto, the single titled “Seven.” dropped on July 14. Upon release, “Seven” became the fastest song to reach one billion streams in Spotify history at 108 days, adding to the Spotify Billionaire Club. The song was released with a music video, surrounding Jung Kook and Han So-hee, a South Korean Actress who has starred in famous K-Dramas such as Nevertheless and My Name.
Following “Seven,” Jung Kook released the up-beat single “3D” featuring Jack Harlow, which was also accompanied by a music video. Both of these songs have also engaged audiences with TikTok dances.
The last single released before the album drop was “Standing Next to You” which Billboard predicted would be Army’s favorite. This song sounds a bit different with a more groovy-like, bass and synth heavy beat. Produced by Andrew Watt and Cirkut, who worked on The Weeknd’s “Starboy.”
On November 3, the entire album was released, proving that Jung Kook was capable of acing multiple types of genres. Songs such “Shot Glass of Tears” and “Hate You” were performed with strong emotion and intensity. Jung Kook knows how to convey these emotions with his tenor soft vocals. A deeper dive showed that “Hate You” was produced by LostBoy. In an Instagram post, he says the song came from a “rainy LA day round the piano with the brooos,” meaning Shawn Mendes, Scott Harris, and Cirkut.
Track number five “Yes or No” is a more guitar enthralled track that sounds like an early 2000’s song. It all makes sense when you see that it was written by Ed Sheeran and produced by artists such as Blake Slatkin who has worked with artists such as Justin Bieber. His range showed especially when BTS stan accounts on Twitter claimed to not recognize JK’s vocals in song “Somebody.”
In “Too Sad to Dance,” Jung Kook revisited an old lyricist and producer, David Stewart. The acclaimed producer wrote and played various instruments for BTS’ hit song “Dynamite” which was the group’s first Grammy nominated song and broke five Guinness World Records.
The two most surprising and diverse tracks were “Please Don’t Change,” and “Closer to You,” a personal favorite. The songs featured famously known electronic producers and DJ’s Major Lazer, Diplo, and DJ Snake. “Please Don’t Change” was written by a reggae artist from Manchester, England, Adio Marchant. The song was produced by French artist DJ Snake who is known for “Turn Down for What” in which you can hear the similarities in production in both songs.
At 113 BPM, beats per minute, “Closer to You” is one of those songs in which the sexy house beat and vocals by Jung Kook, mix to create a masterpiece.
Although Jung Kook didn’t write or produce any of the songs, the album is Golden because of the way the maknae displays his talented ways through a vast array of songs that he performs with seamless ease and beauty.
